Stranger in a Strange Land
by smoking-tulips
Summary: A young Denmark explores a new found land - one that will soon become very familiar to him.


_A.N: guess this kinda works as a prequel to 'Family Bonds'. I have too many feelings for viking Nordics._

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><p>The first thing the young nation saw as his peoples ships came closer to land was mountains.<br>Seeming to stretch up from sea and fog they reached high up into the sky – higher than anything he had ever thought possible.  
>Suddenly all the trees in his forests where nothing but sticks in comparison.<p>

"Wow" He gaped as the boat glide effortlessly across the water, the waves only helping them reach their destination quicker.  
>"Starboard!" A man behind him yelled as ores where pushed out and into the water.<p>

"Where are we going?" the young nation asked a nearby man.  
>"There's an inlet over there with a safe place to moor our boats." the man pointed ahead of them and sure enough there seemed to be an opening in the mountains.<p>

Denmark could only stare in wonder as his ships sailed in between mountains. The grey stone towering over him like the giants in legends themselves.  
>"This must be jotunheimen" he whispered to himself.<p>

Hitting the sand at the end of the fjord several of the adult men jumped off – ropes in hand – and dragged the ship further up on the small beach.

Denmark wasn't slow to tumble off the boat himself – this was a new land with plenty of exploration to do. Granted – some of his people had already visited this place a few months before, but he himself had never set foot it this strange and mystical land.

As the men started to unload and set up camp, Denmark sett off up the hill and into the forest. The humans could handle themselves – this nation had a country to explore!

Climbing over rocks and fallen trees, the young Dane decided that this new place was eerily quiet.  
>A few bird chirps here and there – but nothing else.<br>It unnerved him slightly, and suddenly he found himself clutching his sword tightly. For how long could he wander and not meet a single living creature?

Less energetic but with the weariness of a baby rabbit – Denmark made his way to the top of one of the mountains. From his position on top he could easily follow his fellow countrymen's progress in unloading the boats. Smiling at their hard work he forgot to be frightened for a moment.

Suddenly something rustled in some bushes from where he'd come from. Denmark whipped around and stared – his eyes catching a glimpse something white before it was gone again.

The Dane stared before setting off after the mysterious thing he'd seen.  
>Darting through the low bushes and then the thick trees the most he saw of the thing was white fabric.<p>

Exhausted, he still pressed on – it had to have been a person! - he aimed to find them.  
>However, whoever it was he was chasing knew the area better than him, because as he burst through some low hanging branches he didn't anticipate the steep hill behind him.<br>With a loud yelp he lost his footing and tumbled downwards.

The fall knocked the wind out of him, causing him to lie there motionless for several minutes to regain his breath. Groaning he tried to get up – a sharp stinging pain shooting through his foot as he tried to move it.  
>Eyes widened in fear he propped himself carefully up to examine the damage. He couldn't tell if his ankle was broken or simply twisted – but there was no chance he'd be walking on it either way.<p>

Cursing his bad luck he surveyed his surroundings. His heart fell when he realised there was nothing but mountains on every side. How far had he chased the mysterious person?  
>Fear started to creep into his mind – what a terrible exploring mission this had turned out to be.<p>

A twig snapping behind him, caused his to be jolted out of his misery and whip his head around.  
>The sight that greeted him was not what he had expected at all. Denmark figured some dangerous animal or Jotne would be there to end him; yet instead there stood a small blonde boy – no older than himself.<p>

The boy was dressed in white – blonde hair covering one eye; the other eye was fixed at Denmark.

As he came closer to Denmark he noticed the other boy was barefoot, with only some leather band wrapped and tied around one leg.  
>Was this the person he had been chasing earlier? Denmark tried to drag himself away from the mysterious person with eyes like the deep sea.<p>

Winching as he moved his foot, he gave up. He really hoped this boy was friendly.

The other child must have had similar thoughts, because once he noticed that Denmark could no longer move his own movements relaxed slightly and he approached the Dane with a lot less caution.

Denmark studied him carefully a bit more. A rope was tied around the boys waist as a belt and from it a few leather pouches hung – filled with something the Dane couldn't quite see.

The boy crouched down next to Denmark's injured leg and stared at it intensely before reaching out to poke the tender flesh.  
>Denmark screamed in agony – causing the other boy the withdraw his arm and stare at Denmark in shock.<p>

"That hurts!" the Dane hissed at the newcomer.

"Well we need to fix it then..."

Denmark's jaw dropped open.  
>"You..you talk!" he exclaimed, all pain momentarily forgotten.<p>

"Of course I talk, now be quiet. I need to remove your shoes."  
>The other boy carefully began to untie the lace around his leg before starting to remove the leather shoe with such gentle fingers Denmark wondered if this kid was an elf. Or perhaps a child of a Valkyrie. His blue eyes and blonde hair certainly made him look the part.<p>

"Not broken" he concluded once the shoe was off. "You stay here. Be back soon."

Denmark tried to protest, but before he could do so the other child had disappeared up the hill and in-between the dense forest. Sighing, Denmark tried to still his panicked breathing. He was a nation! A viking! A fearless man!  
>Well, fearless boy at least. He was older than the men in his village, yet his appearance was that of a young child.<p>

To keep his mind of his predicament, he tried to hum a drinking song. It kept him occupied enough until the blonde boy returned with a bundle of something in his arms.

"Here, chew this."  
>Denmark took the piece of bark from the boy, inspecting it with a suspicious eye before doing as told. Bitter and hard to chew, but it did keep his mind of the pain as the other child splintered up his leg with two sticks, some rope and rabbit fur for comfort.<p>

Dusting his hands off, the boy deemed his handiwork adequate.

"Um..thank you...what's your name?" Denmark spat the chewed up bark out – hoping the other kid had more somewhere.

The blonde boy looked at him warily as he packed up his remaining rope and furs.  
>"Norge" he answered after a moment of quiet.<p>

"Nice to meet you Norge!" Denmark grinned "I'm Danmark"

Norway nodded in acknowledgement and moved a little closer to the newcomer.  
>Leaning in he studied Denmark's hair and face intently. Denmark didn't know what to do – but as Norway began to thread his fingers through his hair and touch his shin – he decided it was best to just go with it.<p>

"You're like me..." Norway mumbled.

Denmark's heart made a little leap of joy.  
>"How...how long have you been here?" He asked carefully, it felt quite nice having the other nation play with his hair.<p>

Norway shrugged as he pulled lightly at the Dane's wild hair – seemingly rather fascinated by it's gravity-defying nature.  
>"Winters and summers have gone past...I've lost count." he admitted after a while with a sigh.<p>

"Oh, well..." Denmark scratched the back of his head thoughtfully before a wide grin spread across his face.  
>"Hey, I have a great idea! You can be my little brother! Since we don't age like the others; we'll be family forever!" he laughed, pleased with his great plan.<p>

"Family? Forever?" Norway tested the words out on his tongue before a small smile graced his features. Denmark grinned even more at the sight. He wanted his new brother to smile like that all the time.

"Yeah! You can come stay with me and we'll go explore the sea together and it will be amazing!"

Norway's brows furrowed and the smile disappeared.  
>"Uh, don't you like that idea?" Denmark asked with worry in his voice.<p>

"I don't want to leave this place..." he admitted after a while.

"Oh.." Denmark scratches his head and thought long and hard.  
>"...But travelling is great fun! The sea is so powerful! And will take you to strange places!" The young Dane waves his hands eagerly as he spoke.<p>

Norway nodded slightly as he listened to Denmark speak.  
>"My people know the sea...it does not scare me. I just prefer to stay here with my family."<p>

Denmark blinked.  
>"Family?"<br>A terrible sinking feeling engraved itself in his stomach at that word. Norway had a family?  
>He himself had a father of course...but he hardly ever saw the man. From an early age he'd learnt to take care of himself. Jealously built up inside him towards Norway. How come this guy was allowed to have a proper family, but he couldn't even have one parent who stayed for even a day?<p>

"Yeah. My family is really big!" Norway smiled brightly; pushing his blonde hair away from his forehead and eye, Denmark could see both eyes twinkling with happiness.

It filled him with rage.

"Bet your whole family is stupid." he sneered bitterly.

"No. Well...some of them aren't very smart. But Mother is very wise..." Norway placed his small hand on Denmark's sprained ankle and gave it a small squeeze, causing the young nation to scream in pain. "However in the future I'd like you to not disrespect my family like that again."

Denmark nodded as he willed the tears to not overflow.  
>"Fine...can I meet them sometime?"<p>

Norway mulled over the other boy's words before nodding.  
>"Suppose there's no harm..."<br>he then proceeded to rummage through one of the small leather pouches around his waist – finally pulling out a small grey stone with a strange pattern carved into it. Denmark regarded the stone with some suspicion and curiosity.

However, as Norway began to mumble and mutter under his breath his eyes only widened.

A puff of smoke appeared over the Norwegian's hand and fluttering right above his hand was a small fairy clad in green.

"This is my big sister." Norway smiled as he let the small fairly take a seat in the palm of his hand.

"But...she's a fairy!" Denmark exclaimed in shock. Then his mind started to function again.  
>"Wait a minute...your family; are they all like her?"<p>

Norway hummed in acknowledgement.

All Denmark could respond with was a silent gawk.

"I have many other sisters and brothers. They live all over the land. In trees, lakes, mountains, rivers and fields."

The little fairly smiled at Denmark before whispering something into Norway's ear. The Nordic boy nodded wordlessly; and before Denmark could think to ask what she had said – the fairy disappeared in a cloud of dust.

"She says we need to get you home...sun is setting soon and it will rain."

"Sky is clear..."

"Won't last for long. Sun sends a strong wind from the sea when it goes down."

Denmark sighed. Norway knew his own land the best – no need to argue about that.  
>Winching as he tried to stand he was incredibly thankful when Norway wrapped one arm around his waist and hoisted him up to stand on his good leg.<p>

By the time the two young nations made it back to the Danish camp-site it was already nightfall. And right enough; the rain did start to fall.

Denmark's men didn't question Norway's presence, instead they ensured both were given blankets and food.

"Do any humans live here?" Denmark enquired his new brother as they wolfed down stew and mead.

"Yes. Had you sailed up north to the next fjord you would have gotten to a village."

Behind them two men groaned and started arguing about navigation and reading maps properly.

The two young nation chuckled knowingly to themselves.  
>"I'll show you the way in the morning...and then perhaps ask Mother to heal your foot so we can climb the mountains."<p>

Denmark grinned from ear to ear.  
>"Deal!"<p>

The two nations fells asleep next to the fire, exhausted but content. Both overjoyed about having found someone else like them. Someone to share the joys and burdens of outliving their people.

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><p><em>A.N: not exactly historically accurate, but I badly wanted tiny!viking!Denmark to meet Tiny!wild-childviking!Norway._  
><em>That is my only excuse for this.<em>  
><em>Oh well. I hope you enjoyed it none the less<em>


End file.
